Little Boxes
by mama rocks
Summary: We all put each other in 'little boxes', 'the geek', 'the mother hen' etc and the Torchwood team are no different. But sometimes they break out of their boxes and surprise each other.


TWTWTW

****Ianto is not a girl****

Ianto sighed, he had finished all his usual tasks, feeding captive aliens, running repairs to the hub, and to the man in charge of the hub. Yet more coffee for the team then, he thought to himself.

He detoured to the med lab first. Gwen and Jack appeared almost to have forgotten that Owen was technically dead, they seemed to assume he had come to terms with it and moved on. But Toshiko never stopped watching him, fussing over him.

Ianto knew that Owen had come to find his quiet presence comforting. He didn't ignore his condition, and didn't insist the doctor talk about his feelings. Owen found him strangely restful to be around.

'Hi' he said as he joined Owen, 'anything interesting?'

'Depends on your idea of interesting. I think that compound we found is some sort of hormone therapy. But it's alien so obviously I can't be sure' said Owen frowning slightly.

Ianto wasn't sure how to respond to this information.

'I suppose I could try it out on Gwen, see if it makes her any less moody this month' Owen mused.

Ianto looked at him unsure if he was joking. Owen smiled at him and Ianto relaxed.

'You know Ianto you make the perfect wife. You look after Jack and all his needs without the hassle of monthly mood swings' laughed Owen.

'I'm not his wife Owen' insisted Ianto grumpily.

He hated it when Owen started to have a dig at his relationship with Jack. But since Owen had died he allowed the doctor more scope to snipe before he left him to wallow in his own misery. After all Owen had very few pleasures left and if he got a kick from annoying Ianto then Ianto could afford to indulge him.

'Sure you are. You wash his clothes, make his food, humour his moods and warm his bed' continued Owen.

'Don't let Gwen hear your definition of a good wife' laughed Ianto.

Owen shivered and joined the laughter.

Since he had died Owen talked much more about everything, but especially about the relationships between the others in the hub, and even more so about sex. Ianto indulged him as far as possible. Owen couldn't have sex any more, but he was still a man, he still thought about it, and talking was now his only outlet.

'Everyone in the hub looks fuckable to me now' he sighed.

'Everyone?' questioned Ianto with a smile on his face.

'Well I've had Gwen so I don't have to wonder about her' said Owen.

'That leaves Tosh then' laughed Ianto.

'And you and Jack' said Owen looking up at Ianto slyly.

Ianto looked at him in amazement.

'I didn't think you were in to men Owen' he said.

'At the moment I would thank Jesus and every deity known to man to be IN to anything' he sighed.

Ianto stood with him in silent sympathy. Owen took a breath and decided to lighten the mood.

'You enjoy being Jack's wife?' he asked Ianto.

'Not his wife Owen' sighed Ianto in exasperation.

'What's he like in bed?' asked Owen cheekily.

'I don't kiss and tell Owen' replied Ianto with a small smile.

'Is it better than with the women you've been with?' Owen asked unable to leave the question alone.

'It's better than anyone I've been with Owen. I never realised anything...anyone could feel as good as he does' responded Ianto with an honesty that took Owen's breath.

'You love him?' he asked, not really surprised.

'Yes' answered Ianto simply.

'He loves you too' stated Owen.

Ianto looked at him with doubt on his face.

'Do you think so?' he asked.

'Oh yes...I've watched him. His eyes follow you everywhere. His face softens when he looks at you. He tries to keep you safe...worries about you first when we all go on missions...when you were hurt last month I swear he didn't breathe for the half hour it took me to bring you round. You make him happy Ianto...and I don't think he's been happy for a long time' observed Owen.

Ianto had rarely heard Owen make such a long speech without any sniping or sexual innuendo and he looked at the medic considering the implications of his observations.

Ianto was amazed at the depth of Owen's perception. Having no need to sleep or eat had given Owen a lot of time to think and Ianto found it a little disconcerting. This was a whole new dimension to the moody medic.

Ianto touched his arm.

'But I still think you're his wife' Owen slunk back into his habitual aloofness.

Ianto laughed, nodded at him and left the lab.

He made his way to Jack's office and for once entered without knocking. Jack looked up and was surprised to see Ianto close the door behind him. A look of determination had settled on Ianto's features that Jack did not often see, and he knew he was in for a good night.

'When we go home tonight you are cooking...and later I am going to fuck you senseless' Ianto whispered into his ear.

Jack recognised the mood and responded immediately.

'Yes sir' he said.

TWTWTW

****Gwen is not always a bleeding heart****

The team had taken all morning to find, subdue and retrieve the alien. Now it was in the cells and they were in the board room having a meeting to decide on action.

'We should send it back through the rift' said Gwen.

'Not really possible Gwen' said Jack 'we never know where and when rift activity will take place.'

'How much do we know about this species Jack' asked Toshiko.

Jack contemplated her, she always approached things logically but this time he was not happy about her question. He knew this species of old and he did not relish sharing his knowledge with the team.

'They are called Velux and they are an aggressive race. They do not explore, they only invade. They seek out new civilisations purely to subjugate them. When they have achieved their objective they use the population for sport' he said quietly.

'What do you mean?' asked Owen raising his eyebrows.

'Well they use captive species for target practise. They set them in games to the death against each other and worst of all...' Jack drew breath.

'Worst of all...they take children and torture them in front of parents to watch their reactions' he finished.

The team sat around in shocked silence. How were they supposed to assimilate such information? Worse, how were they supposed to have such a creature in the hub? Even in the cells it would have to be fed, its basic needs taken care of.

'They live to inflict pain, to kill. They have no other desire, no other purpose. You cannot communicate with them, or reason with them, it is their whole purpose in life.' Jack continued.

'I really don't know what we should do with it' he finished sadly.

'We kill it' announced Owen.

'Owen!' objected Toshiko 'how would that make us any better than them?' she asked.

'But I'll have to feed it, and look after it' quailed Ianto.

Ianto blanched at the thought of facing the Velux day after day, knowing what it was capable of, what it wanted to do. The weevils were bad enough, but this was a whole new level of evil.

'I suggest we all take a while to think about this. I don't like the idea of Torchwood becoming alien executors. We may need to work rotas for providing it with food etc...it's not fair for Ianto to have to see that level of malevolence on a daily basis' insisted Jack.

The team left to return to their stations and contemplate further action.

Ianto made a round of coffees and took Jack his first.

'You ok Jack' he asked placing the drink on the captain's desk.

Jack smiled up at him.

'Sit with me for a while Ianto' he pleaded 'I hate seeing so much hate and evil in one creature...makes me sad and sick in equal measure' he said.

Ianto sat with his captain, taking his hand in his own and rubbing his thumb across the palm.

'Try not to think of it Jack. Concentrate on the good we have here' he said.

And he leant forward and kissed him, just as the alarms from the cells sounded.

Owen and Toshiko joined Ianto and Jack in the rush for the cell containing the Velux. They arrived to find Gwen standing outside with her gun in her hand and a very dead creature in the cell.

Jack carefully withdrew the weapon from her hand.

'Gwen? What happened?' he asked.

'I shot it Jack, that's what happened. That creature did not deserve to live, and we did not deserve to have to look after it from day to day' she said.

She looked around at them all.

'I have people I love on this planet...in this hub...I don't want something like that near me' she was shaking now.

'It's ok Gwen' said Owen 'come on lets go back upstairs.'

He guided her gently away towards the med lab to check her over. The other three watched them leave.

'Gwen always argues for aliens to have rights...she always wants us to do the right thing...what happened here' asked Toshiko uncomprehendingly.

'I guess everyone has their limits' said Jack.

TWTWTW

****Owen does do flowers****

It had been a gruesome day. A time loop had been identified on the rift monitor in a local park. Toshiko and Owen had been sent to investigate and had discovered a distraught mother who had seen her toddler daughter disappear before her eyes as she played on the grass.

Toshiko had done her best to calm the woman and she had eventually been led away by local police who would start a missing child alert. Only the two Torchwood agents had known the child would never be found. She had slipped through the loop and gone to God only knows what time period.

Toshiko had been deeply upset by the whole episode and Owen had to scream at her to get her to continue working. Pointing out to her that more kids could go missing if they didn't figure out how to close the loop.

Readings had indicated that the loop would close itself in twenty minutes and Owen had been relieved. All they had to do was guard the perimeter until it was safe.

It had been the longest twenty minutes of Owen's life. Toshiko had railed against the rift, unfeeling male bastards in general and Owen in particular for the whole time. Owen had set up a containment zone, and gathered the help of police to keep sightseers away. All the while trying not to listen to Toshiko's rants.

Back at the hub Toshiko thankfully lapsed into silence and it was left to Owen to report to Jack.

'Tosh might need to go home early' he said.

'Oh...why?' asked Jack.

'She was pretty upset back there...the missing kid..' replied Owen.

'I see! That explains the silence' said Jack.

'Be thankful for it...she just about drove me mad' said Owen 'I've never known Tosh be so voluble.'

'Ok..if rift activity is low she can leave as soon as she completes testing for further time anomalies' decided Jack.

He had barely completed the sentence when the alarms were activated and Jack and Ianto were called out to a Weevil sighting.

Gwen attempted to calm Toshiko, bringing her a drink and offering sympathy. Toshiko did not respond well to Gwen's sympathy and snapped at her to do some work for a change and stop pretending to be concerned for everyone when that concern would do no good.

Gwen was affronted.

'I was only trying to help' she complained to Owen.

'Yeah well sometimes people don't want your idea of help.....you're just trying to make yourself feel better...leave Tosh alone' fumed Owen.

Gwen retreated, upset. Owen looked over at Toshiko and gave her a small half smile which she barely returned. Silence reigned at the hub until Jack and Ianto arrived back having lost the weevil they were chasing.

Jack raised his eyebrows at Owen in enquiry as to Toshiko's mood, Owen shrugged. Jack wandered towards his employee.

'How's it going?' he asked.

'No further time anomalies. I can't work out what happened yet but there is nothing to suggest it will happen again' said Toshiko resignedly.

'Ok, go home Tosh. Come back with a fresh mind tomorrow, something might come to you then' said Jack with a hand on her shoulder.

Toshiko looked up at him and considered arguing, but then her shoulders slumped and she realised how much she wanted to leave the hub and all the madness behind. She nodded and made preparations to leave.

Jack returned to his office and Owen joined him.

'Mind if I go home with Tosh?' he asked Jack.

Jack raised his eyebrows at him.

'She needs a friendly face' he shrugged 'and maybe someone to yell at' he added.

Jack nodded and Owen joined Toshiko as she left the hub.

'Walk with me for a while Tosh?' asked Owen.

Toshiko looked at him and shrugged unable to think of a reason not to. They walked back to the park they had been at earlier. Walking in the sunshine, police tape the only indication that anything had happened at the location.

They sat on a bench near to the scene.

'Why have you bought us back here Owen?' asked Toshiko.

'So that you can see the beauty' answered Owen simply.

'What beauty?' asked Toshiko angrily, 'people ignorant of the tragedy and going on with their stupid lives, rubbish collecting near bins, mums shouting at toddlers unaware of how lucky they are to still have them?' Toshiko was getting upset again.

'Yes Tosh...the beauty of real lives. What we do allows real lives to continue, it allows rubbish to collect and mums to yell at their kids. But there is other beauty here. Look around, there are trees and grass and flowers and sunshine...we help to keep that going'

Owen was desperate for Toshiko to believe him, to see the truth of what he was saying.

Toshiko was becoming calmer. She knew Owen was right but some days it was harder to believe than others.

'Come home with me Owen? I don't want to be alone just yet' asked Toshiko.

Owen nodded. As they rose to walk home he quickly nipped past the police tape and plucked a large buttercup out of the earth. He presented it to Toshiko with an apologetic smile.

'Beauty from amid the chaos Tosh' he said.

She took the gift and smiled.

****Tosh isn't always a pushover for Owen****

TWTWTW

Toshiko didn't understand computer games. Oh she understood how they worked, the programming that went into them, but she didn't understand the appeal and she couldn't play them well.

She always came last in any game competition. She pretended she had better things to think about and hadn't really been trying, but in reality she just couldn't coordinate her hands enough to play them with any degree of success.

She could never follow which character she was, what weapons she had available and where the hell she was supposed to be going. Toshiko's idea of a computer game was trying to hack into UNIT top secret programmes. That was where the real skill lay, not in silly fighting games and competitions with Owen, the world's biggest geek when it came to gaming.

Why did he need so much extra equipment to play the games? A Keyboard and a mouse that was all Toshiko needed to work her magic in cracking into systems, but Owen needed handsets, wheels and all manner of things to plug in with wires everywhere.

'Come on Tosh, it's your go' shouted Owen.

Toshiko sighed she really did not want to go through the humiliation of falling at the first hurdle again.

'Can't Owen...you'll have to count me out...got some programming I need to keep an eye on' she answered.

Owen shrugged.

'Ok then teaboy you're up.'

Ianto took his place at the console and annoyed Owen by playing really well. Owen took his bad mood out on Toshiko.

'Shame you can't play these games Tosh, but then you are a girl' he sneered knowing the sexist comment would annoy her.

'Being a girl has nothing to do with it Owen, the games are pointless. You know fine well I am better with technology than you'll ever be' Toshiko retaliated.

'Yep...you just keep telling yourself that....but we all know it's just an excuse to cover for your inadequacy in the real world' snapped Owen.

'Owen!' shouted Gwen.

Owen knew he had been nastier than the situation demanded, but Toshiko was so easy that sometimes he felt compelled to hurt her just because he knew he could. It was not a side to his personality he cared to consider too deeply.

Luckily they were interrupted by the rift activity alarm and Gwen, Owen and Jack went to investigate.

Toshiko stayed behind to relay rift coordinates to the team and update them on activity spikes. This hardly taxed Toshiko's lively brain and she found herself plotting revenge on Owen. She had spent so long loving Owen from the periphery of his life, and that would probably never stop, but being a doormat for his nastiness could.

She made short work of corrupting the game file and adding her own innovations. It was Owen's favourite game and she should have felt guilt, but she remembered his insults from over the years and steeled herself to commit the adulteration.

XXXXXXXXX

Owen had tried everything. He had tried shouting at Toshiko for ruining his game and he had tried wheedling to persuade her to fix it. He had tried bribery, offering to take on all the boring duties that Toshiko hated for keeping her from her beloved computer, and he had even tried flirting.

Nothing was working and Owen was furious. Toshiko showed no signs of relenting and agreeing to fix the problem. Whenever he reached the most exciting point of the game it instantly returned him to the beginning and he had quickly concluded that Toshiko had caused the problem.

He knew his only recourse would be to apologise, and he just did not do apologies. But he really liked this game. He took a deep breath.

'Tosh...I'm sorry' he said.

'What for Owen?' asked Toshiko.

'For everything...for saying those nasty things....for always having a dig at you...for not paying attention to you....' Owen tried.

'Ok' accepted Toshiko.

Owen grinned. Toshiko was always going to give in to him, she was crazy about him and he knew it. He would have to go carefully but he was close to achieving his aim.

'So if you accept my apology would you like to go for a drink tonight' he asked.

Toshiko gave this some thought. She was an intelligent woman and she knew why Owen was asking this, but should she go anyway? After all it was what she wanted, to get Owen alone. He might have offered from the wrong motives, but once they were alone maybe it could work out, maybe they would learn to know each other better. Maybe Owen would realise she was worth getting to know.

Owen watched all these emotions cross Toshiko's face and smiled to himself in his certainty of winning.

'No thank you Owen' said Toshiko with deliberation.

Owen stared at her open mouthed, he could not believe that Toshiko had refused a date with him.

Toshiko smiled at the incredulous look on Owen's face.

'And I won't be fixing your game either' she added with a small stab of pleasure.

TWTWTW

****Jack does do commitment****

Jack slammed the door of the SUV and with an unconscious Ianto in his arms raced into the hub shouting for Owen.

'What the hell happened...you were only going to observe rift activity...how can this possibly be the result of observing?!' screamed Owen as he took in Ianto's state.

'The activity was at a quarry Owen' said Toshiko.

'And?' demanded Owen.

'Ianto was too close when an explosion occurred...does it matter?...just help him Owen' pleaded Jack.

'I need to know what happened, so I can judge what to look for Jack' explained Owen.

Jack just looked at him and nodded, and gestured at him to continue helping the man now on the bed. Owen asked Jack to help him strip Ianto to look for injuries. He quickly ascertained there were no visible injuries, but what about internal ones.

Owen was manipulating his torso feeling for swelling that might indicate trauma when Ianto sat up shouting. His voice was odd and got progressively louder until he was screaming.

'Owen, what the hell are you doing...get off me...and why am I naked...oh God Jack didn't get us both drunk and involved in a threesome did he? Why can't I make a sound?' Ianto looked around desperately.

Jack, Owen and Toshiko all took a step back as the volume of Ianto's tirade hit them.

'Jack...Jack...I can't talk' Ianto continued shouting.

As this was obviously not true, and as the volume and the frantic movement suggested there was no life threatening damage to Ianto, Jack smiled and sagged with relief. Owen tried to calm Ianto, touching his arm and putting a finger to his own lips to shush him.

Ianto was quite frightened by now and gripped Owen's arm tightly.

'What...what?' he screamed.

Toshiko had found a solution to their current dilemma by producing a notepad and pen and writing a message to Ianto.

'_You can talk, in fact you are shouting. Please calm down.'_

Ianto looked at the note then looked at Toshiko and smiled. His voice was ok. Sudden realisation crossed his face and he turned to Owen indicating his ears frantically. If he was talking he couldn't hear it and he couldn't hear the others.

Owen took Toshiko's pad and wrote.

'_The blast has left you deaf. It is only temporary, until the shock and swelling subside. Do you hurt anywhere else?'_

Ianto read it and gestured for a pen, if he couldn't hear himself there was no point in shouting and making everyone uncomfortable. He wrote.

'_I feel fine, no pain anywhere, but I would like to get dressed. How long is temporary?'_

Owen smiled at him relieved and wrote back.

'_Not sure...could be an hour or two...could be a day or two...you'll just have to be patient.'_

Ianto's shoulders sagged but he quickly recovered, he wasn't permanently injured and a couple of hours or even a couple of days not having to listen to wedding details and Owen whining could be relaxing.

He moved to get up from the bed and looked around for his clothes indicating to Jack to pass them to him. Jack told Owen and Toshiko to leave them alone whilst Ianto got dressed. Owen looked concerned.

'You're not going to be doing anything insanitary in my lab are you Jack?' he asked.

Jack merely raised an eyebrow and sighing Owen left him to it. Jack bought Ianto's clothes to him and lifted his chin so that Ianto was looking at him.

'You scared me, I thought you were hurt. I know you can't hear me but I'm so grateful you're ok' he smiled into Ianto's face.

Ianto smiled back, he didn't know what Jack was saying but he could guess. He knew Jack worried about losing him, more so because he knew it would definitely happen one day. He tried to convey some comfort to his lover by hugging him.

Ianto allowed Jack to help him to dress, knowing it gave the older man comfort to be doing something. Then Jack took him by the hand and led him into the main hub. Owen looked him over and wrote on the pad he was holding.

'_You still feel ok?'_

Ianto nodded and Toshiko came over to hug him and wrote on her own pad.

'_I gave everyone pads to write on'_ and she gave Ianto one of his own.

Ianto smiled his gentle smile and hugged her back. He wrote on his pad.

'_Drinks everyone?'_

They all laughed and held up pads saying '_yes please Ianto'._

Ianto squeezed Jack's hand and wandered to his kitchen to prepare drinks. Jack watched him carefully for a moment and then left for his office to write reports.

Ianto stood making all his usual preparations in blissful silence. If this was only temporary, and he trusted Owen's medical judgement implicitly, then the next few hours or days could be extremely relaxing.

Ianto had never found silence unnerving like some of his contemporaries. He did not find it necessary to have the television, radio or some form of music playing continuously. He enjoyed quiet, enjoyed just thinking, his own inner voice was plenty to keep him amused.

He took drinks to Owen, Toshiko and Gwen and smiled at each of them as they made the unusual effort to look at him and voice their thanks. He proceeded to Jack's office and placed a cup before his captain and took out his pad to write.

'_Jack...how can I work when I can't hear? It will be ok in the hub but what if something happens? How will I be able to help in the field?_'

Jack indicated for him to sit down whilst he wrote on his own pad.

'_You'll stay here if we go on missions. We have the voice recognition software...it can be rigged to relay our spoken messages to script on the hub monitors, and you can type fast enough to send messages back....it will be ok...stop worrying'_

Ianto laughed at the little heart Jack had drawn underneath his message and wrote.

'_That is really girly Harkness'_ on his pad before leaving the office and taking himself off to the archives.

Toshiko had already arranged for the hub alarm and rift activity alarm to flash the lights so that Ianto would be alerted. Jack called Owen into his office.

'Are you sure this is just temporary?' he asked.

'Positive Jack. There is no indication of permanent damage, his body is just reacting to the shock, couple of days tops he'll be back to normal. He was lucky not to sustain other injuries' he said.

Jack gulped.

'I know' he said.

Owen looked into the other man's face.

'But he did escape other injury Jack...he's here...he's safe.'

Jack swallowed hard and nodded, and Owen left the room quietly. Nothing else happened that day and after the team had left Ianto joined Jack in his office and showed him what he had written on his pad.

'_Can I stay here tonight...don't want to be alone.'_

Jack looked up and laughed. He wrote.

'_Of course you will stay here...where else would you go? I thought I'd lost you today and I intend to hold you all night to remind myself that I didn't.'_

The two men smiled at each other then Jack wrote.

'_Ianto have you ever had silent sex? It could be interesting!'_

Ianto rolled his eyes, obviously his condition was not going to relieve him from certain duties and he had to admit it would be interesting.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Gwen had gone to sit with Ianto on the sofa and had squeezed his arm trying to convey some sympathy with the touch. Ianto smiled at her but continued to study the UNIT report that Jack had given him to summarise.

Ianto's hearing had gradually begun to return overnight. He could hear now but much more faintly than usual so he had not informed the team yet. When it returned to completely normal he would tell them, or when Owen had time to run a check on him he would explain the developments.

Gwen's mobile rang and she answered it. It soon became obvious the call was from Rhys and was not a happy one. Gwen continued to talk thinking Ianto could not hear her. Ianto was considering moving and ensuring her privacy when he became engrossed despite himself.

'Rhys...I do not want to go to dinner if it is just an excuse to talk about babies again. I've told you...I refuse to think about having children yet. Oh I do think about you and what you want...are you thinking about me and what I want?' Gwen's voice was beginning to rise.

Ianto could only hear her side of the conversation, but it quickly became obvious that this was old ground for the couple, and fast becoming a bitter bone of contention.

'Shut up...shut up...shut up...I cannot keep having this argument...I won't be coming home tonight so don't wait up' shouted Gwen.

She got up from her position, threw her phone down on her vacated seat and strode angrily over to where Owen was inputting data into his computer files. Ianto watched her flirt with Owen for a minute and then could not contain his curiosity. He walked over to his own monitor and fired up the e-mail to appear to be working.

From this position he could hear the muted conversation between his two co-workers.

'So...fancy coming for a drink tonight?' asked Gwen looking up at him coyly through her eyelashes.

Owen contemplated the woman hanging over his desk. He wasn't stupid, he had heard the tone she used in her phone call even if he couldn't hear the words. He realised what she was offering, and why. He was tempted. But then he thought of Rhys, he was a good bloke and he didn't deserve to be cheated on. If Gwen wanted to do that she would have to find someone else to help her.

'Sorry Gwen...busy tonight' he said and continued his work.

Gwen said 'Oh...right' and wandered off annoyed.

Ianto smiled to himself relieved. He had liked Rhys and wouldn't want to see him hurt. He also did not want the kind of tension that a renewal of that affair would undoubtedly give rise to.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ianto was perfectly situated to listen to the conversation between Owen and Toshiko.

'Err Tosh?' began Owen.

'Hmmm' replied Toshiko abstractedly.

'Do you fancy coming for a drink after work?' stumbled Owen.

Ianto gasped in surprise but quickly turned it into a cough as the two of them looked at him. Toshiko was quickly distracted by the notion that Owen had just requested her company. She looked at him.

'Why? Are we all celebrating something? Ianto won't have much fun on a night out' she said.

Ianto felt a tug at his heartstrings. Bless Tosh for thinking of him.

'I wasn't thinking of everybody going....just us' mumbled Owen.

'Oh' exclaimed Toshiko trying to gauge just what he was suggesting. Was this a date? Or was Owen just at a loose end?

'Just us?' she queried.

'Yeah...in fact why don't we go to dinner...you know...date sort of thing' Owen was actually nervous, and a bit annoyed with himself for feeling that way.

Ianto held his breath as he waited for Toshiko's answer. This would either be brilliant or a really bad idea that would end in tears. Ianto wasn't sure which it would be, but it would start with Toshiko's answer.

'Ok' she began tentatively.

She looked up to see Owen grinning at her and smiled back.

'I would like that very much Owen' she finished.

'So....later then?' he asked.

'Later' she whispered.

And they both returned to work smiling to themselves. Ianto was beginning to feel bad about listening to private conversations. He had not meant to do so, but he was only human and had been compelled by circumstances. He decided to end this by announcing as soon as possible that his hearing was almost back to normal.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ianto was working at Toshiko's station running a programme that she was working on. It was tedious work but he was giving Toshiko a much needed break from it.

He could see out of the corner of his eye that Gwen was watching him, she seemed to come to some sort of decision and turned to talk to Jack. Ianto could just make out what they were saying.

Gwen was still upset by her argument with Rhys and her rejection by Owen. She knew it was wrong but she wanted evidence that someone else's life was as messed up as hers.

Ianto wanted to indicate his ability to hear but felt frozen to the spot when he heard what Gwen was asking.

'Jack, when will you leave him' she asked looking at Ianto.

Jack looked into her face startled.

'What makes you think I'm going to leave him?' he asked genuinely surprised.

'Well supposing Torchwood doesn't kill him, he's going to get old' she said.

'So?' responded Jack.

'So one day he'll be older than you....too old for you to fancy him anymore' she continued ruthlessly.

'One day Rhys will be too old for you to fancy him....when are you going to leave him?' Jack retaliated, annoyed.

'That's different' insisted Gwen.

'Why?' asked Jack 'because you are less shallow than I am? Because you're a better person? Why?'

Jack was offended. Did Gwen really see him as this shallow? Did they all? Did Ianto?

'Because I love Rhys...we're going to be married...we're committed' said Gwen.

'Let's just discuss that for a while' said Jack really annoyed now 'your relationship must be so much more secure and meaningful...after all I've never cheated on Ianto..' he spat with contempt in his tone.

Gwen looked slightly ashamed, she knew Jack had discovered her affair with Owen.

'I may be from a different century Gwen but I have lived in this time much longer than any of you, and much longer than I lived in my own. I have learned to understand commitment, to understand selflessness, to understand devotion...I understand the importance of fidelity to the people of this time and I have come to understand its importance to me...I understand love...and I love Ianto Jones' said Jack forcefully.

'But what about when you are still young and he is old?' she persisted unable to leave the argument.

Jack smiled coldly at her.

'Ianto will never be as old as me' he reminded her.

'You know what I mean, you will still look young but he will be an old man' she couldn't let it go.

Jack sighed getting exasperated by her inability to believe in his devotion to the man.

'Then it will be his turn to date the hot younger guy. Leave it Gwen....I will never leave Ianto...it is a long time since I had someone to care about....I want it to last for as long as possible...I love Ianto...not his body or his looks but him...the man himself. That feeling won't change no matter what else does.'

He took a deep breath and continued.

'I know eventually I will be with someone else. I don't want to be...but I'm going to live a long time and I'm not strong enough to do it alone. I don't want that time to come any faster than it has too. I want Ianto to live to a grand old age and I hope and pray he will allow me to share his life until the end' And he walked away from her refusing to listen any longer.

He headed straight for Ianto and whispered in his ear.

'Come into my office'

Ianto waited for a moment then followed Jack to his office shutting the door behind him.

'How long have you been able to hear?' asked Jack looking at him and grinning.

'Long enough captain' laughed Ianto 'how did you know?'

'I know you Ianto. I could tell when you were reacting to people even though you tried to hide it. It was very wrong listening to private conversations....and I am dying to know what you found out!' said Jack like a naughty schoolboy with a secret.

Ianto became serious for a moment.

'I heard what you said to Gwen' he said.

'I know....you were meant to hear' whispered Jack standing and pulling his lover into a hug.

They looked at each other, and lost themselves briefly in the embrace.

'Now....tell me all you heard...especially if it was about me' said Jack.

Ianto laughed and sat down to share with his captain.


End file.
